KEY POINTS:
When Graham Mourie's touring party left New Zealand in 1978, few gave their opposition a chance. The All Blacks took the Northern Hemisphere by storm; it seemed no team could stand in their way. But one did: an unrated provincial side from the south of Ireland.
Munster beat the All Blacks 12-0 at Thomond Park on October 31, 1978. The match is firmly etched in rugby mythology and remains both the only victory by any Irish side over the All Blacks and the only rugby match to inspire a West End play.
Lam to the slaughter
The All Blacks' heaviest defeat on record did not come at the hands of one of rugby's superpowers. The men in black lost 40-17 to Sydney at Penrith Stadium on July 22, 1992.
The unmemorable match also happened to be Blues coach Pat Lam's only game for the All Blacks. He was called into the tour because of injuries. The previous year he had committed himself to Samoa, playing a leading role in their surprise World Cup success.
Pride of Newport
Wilson Whineray's 1963 All Blacks were undefeated in 36 of their 37 tour games - but at Rodney Parade on October 30 they came unstuck.
The 3-0 loss, which even the most diehard of Newport fans would acknowledge was no free-flowing classic, was decided by a single drop goal from the boot of John Uzzell that crawled over the uprights.
Day the pubs ran dry
A gloomy Halloween afternoon turned into a horror story for the All Blacks at Stradey Park, as it did six years later to the day when Munster beat them.
Carwyn James, architect of the Lions' series win the previous summer, was at his plotting best as Llanelli beat the All Blacks 9-3 on October 31, 1972.
"Llanelli 9, Seland Newydd 3" proclaimed the scoreboard, and the celebrations continued in the town's drinking dens on a date known locally as The Day When the Pubs Ran Dry.
To add insult to injury, the All Blacks also lost 8-16 to little-known Midland Counties (West), at Moseley.
French double trouble
The All Blacks won both tests on their 1990 tour of France, but they dropped two of the six other matches. The brutality of the tests paled in comparison to the non-test bloodbaths.
Connoisseurs of French thuggery will fondly recall the presence of Eric Champ as captain of the Provence/Cote D'Azur Invitation XV that beat the All Blacks 19-15 at Toulon. Later, a battered All Blacks side fell 18-12 to Cote Basque-Landes.
